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What career fields are you anticipating will be hot in the next five years? I did one year of college and then took a one year break and am now looking to get back at it but want to be sure I'll choose a major of study that will have a job at the end of it, instead of just a bunch of school bills. Can you give me a couple of strong options?

If you are job hunting, you've likely heard that some employers are having difficulty filling positions - as incredible as that might seem. Much of the data that I've read indicates shortages in several areas. By no means is this a comprehensive list but certainly worth looking into:

This is a topic widely discussed on the internet, and you will likely see STEM sciences as a popular answer. Common sense also tells us technology is never "going out" of style, and people will always need doctors, lawyers, and tax accountants. Ability to sell anything is critical, as is general leadership. It really depends on what you are good at naturally.

The other piece is the future is not predictive; no one has a crystal ball to say what the next best industry, or consumer good will be. But we do know companies are going global (read: learn at least foreign language, and study abroad), media is digital in nature, and environmentally sensitive products and services get lots of press now a days.

How about you pick up the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and one big foreign newspaper (in your native tongue), and read these for about 2 weeks consistently. What kinds of companies do you see in the news regularly? What company stocks are outperforming others (anotherwords learn how to read the investment section of the paper). This will give you clues as to what the future may hold.

It depends what you like and what you are good at but industries that will continue to grow are healthcare, retirement related products and services, technology, and international markets. In terms of majors you will almost always find work if you major in accounting, engineering, math, actuarial sciences or some technology related major.

Information Technology will continue to be a hot career field. Technology is ever changing and companies are looking for talent who know and can apply the latest technical languages to solve business issues. Web design and programming is also a very hot career field. We are finding that it's important to have both the creative and programming skills.